When We Were Young
by electricsymphony
Summary: Draco and Hermione happen to meet at an icecream shop 8 years after the war ended, after the birth of both Rose and Scorpius. DHr friendship, impled RHr and DracoDaphne.


**When We Were Young**

**December 21rst, 2005**

**DH Spoilers! Please stay away if you haven't read Deathly Hallows.**

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Draco leaned against the oak tree, savoring the great smell of pine mixed with a fresh burst of mint flavoring. The first signs of winter were now cropping up everywhere he went. Fallen pieces of snow were scattered across the ground, children ran around throwing snowballs, mothers were humming Christmas songs to themselves and the ice-cream shop was having a Christmas special. The snow was drizzling across the muggle town and the occupants savored the amazing picture it left in its wake. 

Oblivious to the change around her, a young woman was sitting in a secluded section of the ice-cream shop, humming a muggle rhythm to herself, eating a chocolate ice-cream and surrounded by mile-high stacks of books. Draco smirked lightly to himself, walked over to her and tapped lightly on her shoulder. All in one second, she screamed and knocked over her can of ice-cream. A few passing pedestrians noticed and chuckled lightly to themselves. Draco wished they had better things to do than laugh at unsuspecting ice-cream eaters.

"Having a bad day?" He asked as she began to wipe the now stained chocolate of her sweater. He hopped onto the nearest chair, drew up a smile and handed her a napkin.

"Why the hell would you sneak up on me like that, Draco?" She asked, seething anger very present in her eyes as he scooted his chair slowly away. Nothing good ever came out of her rage, he knew that. He smirked, leaned back against his leather jacket now draped on the side of the chair and leaned in closer.

"Language, Granger," he scolded, letting a strand of blonde hair fall into his eyes. There was a moment in which she looked at him with a small smile, but it passed as quickly as it had arrived. She returned his glare while finishing cleaning the table which now was stained dark brown due to the spilling of the chocolate. "We wouldn't want anyone to think that little-miss-perfect was anything but such." He knew he had touched a nerve there because she threw the napkin at him.

"Oh?" She asked, flinging another napkin at him. "What about your reputation, Mister Malfoy?" A small smile now graced her lips, very different from the expression she had used earlier while flinging napkins at him. "What would your friends say if they saw you dining with me?"

"First off, Hermione," he began, leaning back in the chair again, "You are eating ice-cream and I am sitting here mocking you. That hardly counts as fine dining, but to each his own, I suppose--"

"Or her own," she commented, smirking.

"Never knew you were such a woman's activist, Granger."

"I'm not," she answered carelessly, waving him off as to identify that she didn't really care what he thought, "I just like making you angry." There was a silence after this, in which Draco stared at her in complete disbelief. They both sat together, ignoring the stares they were getting from ongoing muggles.

"The mystery is solved then," he answered, grabbing the napkin bin before Hermione could reach across the table to get it. There was a pause in which she glared at him but he continued on like it had never happened. "You don't hate me; you just have compulsive anger issues." He ducked out of her way when she set her bag of books flying in his direction. "As for my friends, I think you are wrongly mistaken. I don't have many friends since the war ended, Granger. As for my reputation, that went down the toilet the moment the Final Battle ended. So, being with you isn't such a bad thing." He saw her face move to being angry to something of simple compassion. "Of course, I do not have any other company to compare you with." She gave him a glare and opened one of her dusty looking books. He smirked and leaned back so far that the back of his chair flew backwards, sending him flying to the floor. Now he had caused the attention of several muggles.

"Draco?" She asked, helping him get off the floor. He looked up at her with a pained expression, but then he started laughing. "Are you alright?"

"Scared for me, Granger?" He asked, rubbing his head. When he finally gained the courage to move, the aching pain came rushing back to his head. He felt a little dizzy and sat back down on the seat that was provided for him. She smiled back at him across the table and she looked like she was thinking about something. He smiled, leaned in a bit, his head still aching in pain and asked, "What's on your mind?"

"Rose," she answered, smiling a bit. "My daughter, she was born a few months ago you know. This is one of the first times I've really been away from her since then. She's back home with Ron, obviously." Draco faked a smile, but he was hiding a snarl. While he didn't want to kill Weasley, or have him injured in any way, they still weren't chums in any particular way. The fact that he owed Weasley a life debt didn't help much, really.

"My son was born back in March, he was. Scorpius, we named him. Daphne hasn't left him without her for more than a minute since he popped out. Can't get enough of him, really." He smiled a bit and made sure not to lean on his chair again. His leather jacket felt nice against his sore back though.

"All you men are like that," she commented. "I think it may be the only thing you and Ron have in common." She laughed as she looked at his face from this accusation. He was looking a bit like a cross between shocked and angry. She could also hint a bit of jealously in the corner of his eyes but she didn't push the subject.

"Me?" He asked, laughing, "and Weasley?" He smirked at the thought. "Have something in common?" He looked at her as though she had fallen off the face of the earth. "What has that baby done to your brains, Granger?"

"You know I am married, Draco. You're the only one in the world who still calls me Granger." He bit his tongue and thought of a snappy remark to say. He couldn't think of something, so when she edged him on to say something; he opened his mouth and closed it again. Suddenly, he began to smile. Hermione looked to him as though he was on drugs, but he kept smiling. Soon, he was laughing.

"Ah, but you love your adorable pet name, Granger."

"I don't think my husband would enjoy you giving me an adorable pet name, Draco."

"Well, it's Weasley. The one man I love to hate. Well, him and Potter."

She scoffed at this. "Where do you get off hating my husband and best friend?"

"I don't hate them," he offered. "I _love_ to hate them."

"Much better," she offered sarcastically. They both sat in silence after this. Draco watched as she sat thinking again. He turned to face her, a smirk upon his lips as he opened his mouth and sighed.

"What are you thinking about now?" He asked.

"When we were young," she answered off-handedly. She looked towards him with an eyebrow raised but he turned away. He couldn't look at her now. She had her head low and she didn't look at him. Her brown eyes matched the chocolate that was now in front of her, dripping into the creamy white tablecloth on top of the table. "We didn't have to think about what was right and what was wrong, or how to deal with things. When I was young you were ferret boy. Things are different now."

"Yes, they are," he answered.

She looked at him and sighed. "Do they have to be?"

He looked up at her, smiled and said, "I know how much you want to be young again, Hermione. I feel your pain. After all, is that a line on your forehead?"

"I'm twenty-six you git!" She studied him, smirked and responded, "Is that a grey hair I see upon Mister Malfoy's head?"

"I don't believe it is," he responded. She smiled and nodded. They both knew what this meant. This… was a chocolate war. Soon enough, chocolate was splattered everyone, every persons eyes were on them and they both knew they didn't' care.

They both knew they wanted to be young again… if only for a moment.

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A/N: Did you like it? I made Daphne Greengrass Scorpius' mother for convenience sake. Please read and review. I didn't think well of it, but we need a bit more D/Hr to spice up the fandom, don't we? 


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